Co-op Membership Management. Print your own membership certificates

In this video I will explain everything you need to know about managing all aspects of your Co-op membership to ensure that you remain compliant with the Co-op Act. The Act places a large responsibility on the directors to maintain a members and directors register and I will demonstrate how easy we have made this task as well as how to generate compulsory membership certificates and end off by explaining which Co-ops require audits as well as my top tip. So, if you are just curious or part of an existing Co-op then this video is for you.
However, if you are still planning to start your own Co-op or you are unsure about authorised share capital, par value shares or how the profit sharing for Co-ops work, then I suggest you take a look at my other video on Planning a Co-op.
Right let’s get started. To ensure good record keeping I would recommend you capture the Co-op information using our online membership management module. Click on www.swiftreg.co.za and navigate to the Co-op Management section. The obvious benefit of using this service is the immediate and full transparency, as all members have viewing rights. One appointed member will be the administrator who has editing rights. The system is designed to keep the Co-op compliant with the Act, and the members oversight will ensure the Co-op remains accurate and up to date.
A Co-ops first compulsory AGM must take place within 18 months after the registration date. Each year thereafter the AGM must be held within 6 months after the financial year end. Our automated email notification service will send out notifications for all types of meetings to all the members including the AGM.
The first task the administrator should do is to capture the Co-op details under the overview tab, this information is pretty straight forward as it is all available on the certificate of registration or Co-op 11. The next step is to capture the members details one by one under the Members register tab. If we registered your Co-op for you, we will populate this data automatically. I would like to highlight the Nominee in event of death who is the person each Member nominates to take over your shareholding in the event of your death. All of these data cells are important as the standard constitutions refer directly to them, so by completing each of the relevant cells your Co-op will remain compliant.
With the members shares section you have to apply your mind. If these data fields are all new to you then please play around with the planning tool to calculate the values as it is these values, we will use to generate the share certificates.
The distinctive number range is to specify which individual shares belong to which member. Remember each individual issued share has a uniquely sequential number assigned to it starting from 1. For example, if member number one has 30 shares then the distinctive number range is from share number 1 to share number 30 and nobody else can own these shares in this number range. This means the next members share certificate will start at share number 31 and not 30 which is a common mistake many people make. Remember no share number can be duplicated.
You may find that not all the members may have paid the Co-op the full amount of agreed share contribution. In such a scenario the member will only be entitled to their percentage paid up share of their profit portion.
The final section of the members information is only applicable if loans have been created. Remember buying shares in the Co-op is not considered a loan but rather classified as an equity investment which does not attract any interest. Only if money is loaned to Co-op to fund its cashflow will it be considered a loan to the Co-op and attract interest which should be repaid to the member. Alternatively if the member makes a loan from the Co-op the amount, the interest and the repayment date must be agreed upon and captured by the administrator.
Ever time there is a change on this page a new share certificate should the printed and signed by the Chairman, the treasurer and the member to verify the authenticity as it is the proof of ownership. Remember to always cancel the previous certificate as there can only always be one original membership certificate.
A question we often get is; does my Co-op require an audit? The simple answer is; it depends on your turnover, CIPC has categorised Primary Co-ops into the following four categories based on the Co-ops turnover. As you can see only Category C; which are Co-ops with turnovers of more than R25m require an audit.
The second point of interest is that ALL Co-ops need to complete a form Co-op 8 each year on the anniversary date of the Co-op’s registration. This form includes some basic information on the number of members and the annual return fees due to CIPC.
If we assume the payment is not late and you are a category A1 Co-op the annual fee is R100.